President Donald Trump once again criticized his go-to network Fox News Monday night, this time after anchor Neil Cavuto warned against the use of hydroxychloroquine for anything other than malaria and lupus. Earlier Monday, the president claimed he was taking the drug to combat the coronavirus.
“@FoxNews is no longer the same. We miss the great Roger Ailes. You have more anti-Trump people, by far, than ever before. Looking for a new outlet!” Trump lamented after a follower on Twitter asked him about Cavuto.
In his on-air warning about hydroxychloroquine, Cavuto cited studies about the drug’s dangers and broke from the network’s primetime host/non-doctor Laura Ingraham — a proponent of the drug’s use in preventing and fighting the coronavirus.
“The president of the United States just acknowledged that he is taking hydroxychloroquine, a drug that really is meant to treat malaria and lupus,” said Cavuto on air. “The president is insistent that it has enormous benefits for patients either trying to prevent or already have COVID-19. The fact of the matter is, though, when the president said, ‘What have you got to lose,’ in a number of studies, those certainly vulnerable in the population have one thing to lose: their lives.”
He went on, “If you are in a risky population here and you are taking this as a preventative treatment to ward off the virus — or, in a worst-case scenario, you are dealing with the virus and you are in this vulnerable population — it will kill you. I cannot stress enough: This will kill you. So, again, whatever benefits the president says this has — and, certainly, it has had for those suffering from malaria, dealing with lupus — this is a leap that should not be taken casually by those watching at home or assuming, ‘Well, the President of the United States says it’s OK.’”
Trump’s suggestion that he’s “looking for a new outlet” isn’t new: He’s been criticizing Fox News for months and holding up the far-right One America News Network as a potential alternative. Trump’s nod to Ailes was also odd; the former Fox News chairman was ousted from the network after multiple accused him of sexual misconduct that spanned years.